The Bet
by RainFlower24
Summary: *KankuroxOC* Fern is a second year leaf ninja, her team taking part of the Chunin exams for the first time. Kankuro is the sand village ninja that sits by her during the written exam. After the exam ends, the two make a bet that could bring them closer than anyone but the two want. Can Sand and Leaf ninja be friends, or even more, when the Sand have a very dark secret?
1. Chapter 1

KankuroxOC

Part 1:

"So." Fern questioned the boy in all black as he stood up, putting her feet up on the desk in front of her so he couldn't pass. "What's in the sack?"

The boy looked at the girl, puzzled by the way she smirked at him. She was obviously a leaf ninja, probably around the same age as him. Her shorter hair was tied back into a ponytail, all but her bangs that fell in her face, and her headband was tied around her head like a headband. Her eyes were a deep green, and they looked at him with a curiosity. He also noticed the little golden leaf charm that hung on a necklace around her neck.

This had been the girl Kankuro had sat by during the written part of the chunnin exam today. He had noticed that she had filled out the whole paper without any signs of cheating, which meant she had to be pretty smart or sneaky.

"Why does it matter?" He questioned back, smiling. He knew Gaara and Temari were waiting for him, and they didn't like waiting. But he couldn't help but be a little curious about this girl and what she had to say.

"I'm curious." Fern answered with a shrug. "How about we make this into a little bet?" Fern was always curious, she knew it was a weakness of hers, along with all the bets and games she created with her friends. But hey, they always kept her life interesting. And that's what she thought of this boy from the sand village, very interesting.

"A game?" He asked, a new look forming on his face. Well, this girl was full of surprises.

"A game." She repeated, laughing as she jumped down from the desk she was sitting on. "I'll take a guess at what's in your little sack, and if I get it right I win. If I don't, you win." She looked up at him; he was only a couple of inches taller than him, and smiled.

"Okay, sounds fair." Kankuro agreed, smiling down at her. He had never met a girl as mysterious as her; he couldn't help but have an interest in her. Who knows, maybe this game would help him get to know her better. "What does the winner get?"

"Hmm, that's a good question." Fern replied, and she paused to think about it. "How about this? Loser has to buy the winner dinner." Fern already knew she was going to win, so why not get a free dinner out of it?

"Interesting." Kankuro stated, chucking. How could he lose? This girl had never met a puppet master; there were none in the Leaf Village. Even if she was well read on other villages, the odds were in his favor. Plus, he'd get a dinner with her if he won or lost. Seemed worth it to him to take this bet. "I accept."

"Yay!" Fern instantly brightened up when he said that, and he found that insanely attractive. "So, since we may as well drag this on and let the suspense build up, I'll write my guess on a piece of paper. Then, I'll give it to you, but you can't look at it. Whenever I see you use your weapon, you can pull the piece of paper out and see that I've won."

Kankuro nodded as she reached over and grabbed a pencil off her desk. He could tell this girl was good at tricks like this, he would be careful around her so she wouldn't end up tricking him. Tearing a corner off her test, she quickly scribbled down her guess and folded it up.

"Kankuro, what are you still doing in here?" Tamari's voice ran out, and the two looked up to see Temari and Gaara reenter the room. The two glared at Fern, but she didn't seem to notice or care.

"Don't lose it." Fern told Kankuro as she handed him the folded up piece of paper. With a nod, she turned and started walking towards the door where the other two were.

"Wait!" Kankuro called out when she had reached the top of the stairs. "What's your name?"

"Sorry, I forgot about that." She replied, laughing. "I'm Fern, you?"

"Kankuro." Kankuro answered.

"See you around then." Fern called out, and with a little wave, she turned around and bounded out of the room, ignoring Temari and Gaara.

Once she was gone, Kankuro slid the piece of paper in his most secure pocket, determined not to lose it.

"What was that all about?" Temari questioned as he walked up to join his two siblings.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Kankuro told her, shrugging it off.

"Let's get back to the hotel." Gaara told them, sounding frustrated. Both quickly agreed, and then walked out of the room back into the hallway.

A little ways down, they could see Fern walking by herself.

"Fern!" They heard a voice cry out, and saw two boys run up to her. "Where have you been?" Kankuro guessed they were her teammates, but he still watched her.

"I just had a little something to take care of, no big deal." She explained, smirking.

"Don't tell me you were causing more trouble." The second boy glared at her.

She just laughed that off. "Come on, we passed the first part of the exam today, we should be celebrating! Let's go get ice cream or something." She told them.

That seemed to calm the boy's worries, and they agreed. With that, the three bounded out of the building and took off down the road.

Kankuro thought back to the paper as they walked down the unfamiliar village on the way back to their room. He was so temped to read it, but he knew that wouldn't be fair. As much as he wanted to, he seemed to be unable to. Maybe he just wanted the suspense and thrill this game from a mysterious girl would bring.


	2. Chapter 2

Anko was almost done talking to the group when Fern and her team arrived the next day outside the forest gates. They tried to make it as discreet as possible, but Anko noticed, and so did Kankuro.

He couldn't help but smirk as he watched them catch their breath. Anko ignored their interruption, for now.

Fern sighed to herself once she had recovered from the long sprint. The boys had been late this morning, causing the whole group to be late to the second part of the exam. Anko was going to kill them, but at least they had made it before registration was over.

"That is all, go register when you are ready. The exam will start in thirty minutes." Anko called out, and the group disbanded. Anko immediately went up to Fern and her teammates, a very pissed off look on her face.

"You're late." She commented. Fern turned around to face her, smiling and shrugging.

"Yeah." She replied. What else was she supposed to say, Fern knew that Anko could blow up if she said the wrong thing. She would just play it cool and get this over with.

"Why? You left the same time I did." Anko asked, somewhat curious. "Did you get lost little cousin?"

Kankuro, who had been overhearing the conversation, was shocked. Who knew that this weird teacher and Fern were actually related?

"These two." Fern answered with a sigh as she pointed to her teammates. "But we're here now." Fern was trying her hardest not to be sassy, but she was finding it more difficult than she had previously thought.

"You're lucky, you almost missed registration. I'd give you a brief overview, but just to challenge and punish you, I'll let you figure out what's happening yourself." Anko told them before turning around and walking off. "See you later, if you live that long."

Fern just rolled her eyes and turned back to her teammates. "Let's just go sign up and find Tenten, she'll be able to tell us what's happening." Tenten has been Fern's best friend since was back to the beginning of their academy days. Even though they didn't see each other much, they still had that close relationship.

"Why are we walking around?" Brett questioned as the team of three began to walk around the abandoned tower. "We've already completed this part of the exam, shouldn't we be resting?"

"Come on! We finished on the first day, we have two days to sit around and do nothing. Might as well explore while we can." Fern replied with a sigh. These two never wanted to adventure like she did.

Kankuro, who was sitting in an empty room with his siblings, smiled to himself as he overheard the group's conversation. So far there were only three teams in the building, and the sun was just beginning to set.

"Shouldn't you not be walking on a broken toe Fern?" Zale questioned.

"It's just a toe, it should be fine." Fern shrugged it off. "Since when did you become the medical ninja of the group?" Fern ignored the pain throbbing from her toe. It wasn't like she hadn't been hurt worse before.

"Do you think any other teams are here yet? Brett whispered, sounding scared. The three hadn't moved from outside the room where the sand village ninja were resting. Kankuro looked at his siblings, who had the same, blank expressions on their faces as they always did. How was he able to stand spending so much time around such boring people?

"Of course! I'd bet those sand ninja are here, and Tenten's team should be close." Fern paused, looking around the dusty hallway. "Plus, I smell dog, which means Kiba's team is here too."

"Shall we go all the way to the top and see what we find?" Zale suggested, and the other two agreed. Kankuro frowned as he heard their footsteps get louder and then quieter as they disappeared up the stairs. He had enjoyed listening to their conversation, now he was just as bored as he was before.

"Now, if anyone doesn't want to participate in the third round, now is your time to drop out." The third Hokague announced. Fern turned around and glared at her teammates, as if to intimidate them so they wouldn't drop out. She had overheard them talking about it, but she wasn't going to let it happen.

Kankuro watched as Fern glared at her teammates, unsure of what was going on. But when they both raised their hands and opted out of the last round, he saw the anger and disappointment flash through her eyes.

They weren't the only ones to drop out though, the weird guy in glasses also dropped out.

Fern sighed as she turned back around as her teammates walked off to the medical room. She knew they were hurt and they didn't want to be in the next round, but now she was left all alone. Plus, she knew the other teams didn't think much of her, especially now. Oh well, time to prove them wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the group walked into the large battle room and got situated along the railing above, Sensei Hild appeared behind Fern. She had been sitting on the ground, un-wrapping the bandage on her toe.

"Broken?" He questioned, making her jump.

"I think so." She replied as she started wrapping it back up. Her whole toe was still bruised, but it didn't hurt as much anymore.

Kankuro looked over at Fern and her sensei. Sensei Hild was a younger ninja, with fluffy brown hair and a boyish face. Fern had decided to sit on the side where his team and the sound village team were, abandoning the side where the other leaf teams were.

He didn't understand why though. The girl with the two buns had called her over to sit with her team, but she still sat by herself.

The beginning battles weren't that interesting to both Fern and Kankuro, until Neji almost killed Hinata. Fern had always known that Neji wasn't the nicest person, but she had never imagined him going this far. She gave Tenten a little wave once the two were dragged off towards the hospital room for support.

Then came Gaara and Lee's Battle. It was so intense; it was hard for Fern to watch. As much as she always wanted to smack Lee for being ridiculous, she couldn't stand to see him almost killed.

Kankuro couldn't believe Gaara was going this far with the weird, thick eye-browed boy. He glanced over at Fern, seeing the horror on her face made him feel sick. He knew that after this whole exam was done, she was going to hate him.

Fern was relieved when Lee's battle was over, but Lee didn't look so good. Sensei Hild had disappeared after Neji's battle, so Fern was going to go stand next to Tenten to make sure she was okay, but she was in the next battle.

Fern's opponent was a ninja from the weird group of purple leaf ninja that she hadn't ever seen before. She sighed to herself as she began to walk towards the arena. Might as well get her fight done and over with, but her stomach still felt sick. It was hard watching the people you had grown up with fight to the death.

Kankuro's attention snapped back when he saw Fern's name up on the screen. Now he was interested, he hadn't ever seen her fight before, and he bet she was good. He turned around as she passed by him, smirking.

"Good luck." He called to her, receiving glares from Temari and Gaara.

It took her a second to respond, as if she was lost in thought and hadn't heard him. "Yeah, thanks." She replied with a smile before walking down the stairs.

"Battle begin!" The proctor called, and Fern smirked.

Fern slammed her foot into his chest as he fell from the sky, ignoring the pain she felt as her toe bent again. She knew she had just broken it again, but it was satisfying to watch the boy fly across the arena and slam into the wall.

"The winner of the match is Fern." The proctor announced, and Fern could hear Tenten cheering above. Smirking, Fern tried not to wobble as she slowly walked back to the spot she had been sitting. As soon as she reached the stairs, Sensei Hild appeared in front of her.

Fern had a chance to look at the screen and see the next battlers before he spoke. Tenten vs Temari.

"Nice battle." Sensei Hild commented. "Now go to the medical room and get that toe checked out."

"It's fine." Fern replied, pushing past him. Truthfully, she just wanted to stay and watch Tenten's battle. Since her two teammates were in the medical room, she needed someone to cheer her on.

Sensei Hild shook his head and disappeared as fast as he had appeared. He had giving trying to argue with her a long time ago, Fern was too stubborn. Fern looked up to see Temari passing her as she walked down to the arena.

"I don't know what your game is, but stay away from my brother." She whispered to Fern as she passed, glaring at her.

Fern just laughed as she continued up the stairs, ignoring Temari. She wobbled past Gaara and Kankuro, and sat down with a sigh.

Kankuro had been speechless as he had watched her fight. She had incredible speed and power; she was truly a great fighter.

Fern tried to hold back her anger as she watched Tenten fight that sand village girl. She sighed when she knew that Tenten had been defeated.

"The winner of this round is Temari." The proctor announced. Temari smirked, and flicked her fan, sending Tenten flying off. Using her teleportation/speed, Fern appeared in the battle arena, catching Tenten before her body hit the ground.

The arena went silent as the two girls had a stare down.

"Got something to say?" Temari asked with a smirk. Kankuro felt sick to his stomach again, he knew this wasn't going to end well. They were both way too stubborn and feisty.

"I'd much rather make my point by punching your face in." Fern replied, and Temari's smirk disappeared.

"You want to fight?!" She screamed, but both girls were suddenly surrounded by all of the leaf sensei's in the room.

"You two better knock it off before I disqualify you both." The proctor told them, and then they both settled down. With a glare, Temari walked out of the arena and back to where Kankuro and Gaara were.

"I don't know what you see in that girl." Temari told Kankuro, but Kankuro ignored her comment.

Tenten was taken off to the medical room, and Fern appeared back in her spot.

Kankuro looked up at the screen as the names appeared. With a smirk, he realized it was finally his turn. It was also time for him to reveal his weapon, which would decide who won the bet between him and Fern.

Kankuro walked back up to where Gaara and Temari were after he won his battle. The final battle between the chubby kid and a sound village ninja was happening, but it wasn't going to last that much longer.

His eyes grew wide as he looked over to where Fern had been standing, seeing she had disappeared. Gaara nudged him, and pointed over to the door that lead into the medical room. Standing in the doorway was Fern, looking up at him.

She smirked as she motioned for him to open the piece of paper. He pulled it out of his pocket and slowly opened it.

_Puppet_

His eyes grew wide in shock as he read the words over and over again. There was no way…she had gotten it right.

He looked back over at her, and she gave a little wave and a smile before opening the door and disappearing behind it.

Fern loved the surprised look he had on his face when he read the note. She knew she had been right all along, but this was still the most satisfying part. Now to get this toe checked out before she slapped his sister silly.


End file.
